Recent advances in molecular biology, power supplies, and miniaturization of electronics have allowed the integration of biologic materials with electronics on a common platform. The integration of biological materials, such as living tissue and cells, with electronics may find applicability in a number of medical device technologies, for example.
A biological chip device or module is comprised of an electronic component (e.g., microprocessing devices, integrated circuits, logic devices and the like) and a biologic materials component (e.g., living tissue, cells and the like). The biological chip device or module may form a portion of an implantable device. The electronic component provides the device with the ability to communicate (e.g., to provide sensing and stimulation capability) with the biologic materials component and/or with other devices. The biologic materials component may consist of cells of interest (e.g., cardiac and vascular cells), which are obtained (e.g., biopsied) from a donor and/or a patient.
Biological chip devices are described in international patent application PCT/US2005/015380 and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/397,627, relevant portions of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their respective entireties.